Tobacco.org

Four Bismarck Stores Sell Tobacco to Minors  

Bismarck Police say kids not of age to smoke are able to get cigarettes and other tobacco products

The Bismarck Police used three 15 year olds to check all the stores that sell tobacco

Out of 41 stores 4 of those stores failed. Simonsons north, Dans North and the Kum & Go on East Rosser all sold to the teens without checking their I.D.'s

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EDITORIAL: What others think: N.D. should spend more to stop tobacco use 

Heidi Heitkamp was the attorney general who negotiated with big tobacco on our behalf. She and others want to increase the percentage of master settlement funds that actually have something to do with the problem of tobacco use.

They’ve come up with an initiative to force a change in the law. It’s been to the attorney general’s office for review and on to the secretary of state’s office. It went back to the initiators for final work and should be ready Monday for Secretary of State Al Jaeger to give final review and approval of the format of a petition to go out for signatures. The backers’ hope is that everything necessary will be accomplished so that the measure can be on the November ballot.

Heitkamp said that an average of $2.2 million of the payment to North Dakota each year is spent on programs dealing with tobacco use prevention or cessation. The proposal is to spend $9 million a year.

That doesn’t sound like much.

But $9 million annually is the amount the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculates this state should be spending.

Yes, at least that.

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Smoking Bans Clear Out Bingo Halls 

Charity bingo games are being hurt by bans on indoor smoking, with attendance dropping as patrons turn to casinos where they can still light up while playing, the New York Times reported April 24.

Charity gambling revenues fell 13 percent after Minnesota adopted a statewide indoor-smoking ban, with the smoking prohibition blamed for half of the decline. Bingo players who once flocked to the American Legion post in Fergus Falls, Minn., now go to casinos or cross the border to North Dakota, where veterans' groups are exempt from the state's smoking ban.

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Ballot measure would create tobacco prevention program 

Former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp announced a proposed ballot measure Tuesday that would create a tobacco prevention and control program using funds that start rolling into the state this year from its settlement with the tobacco industry 10 years ago.

Heitkamp said the state hasn’t directed enough of its settlement money toward tobacco cessation and prevention efforts. She said the issue is personal for her, as she and the state’s solicitor general, Laurie Loveland, worked on the settlement.

Loveland died in 2002 of pancreatic cancer. . . .

The initiative petition was submitted Tuesday afternoon to Secretary of State Al Jaeger.

Sponsors must gather at least 12,844 signatures by Aug. 5 to get the measure on the November ballot, Jaeger said.

The measure would create a committee to develop and implement the plan, as well as a trust fund to support it. A nine-member advisory board appointed by the governor would manage the fund.

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Petition Filed to Help Tobacco Prevention  

Former attorney general Heidi Heitkamp filed a petition this afternoon at the Secretary of State's Office.

The initial petition, signed by over 50 sponsers, has to do with funds given to the state from a 1998 settlement by tobacco companies.

Right now, those settlement dollars are used in the state's general fund.

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Study finds that smoking ban had no effect on revenues 

A smoking ban had no effect on restaurant and bar revenue, according to an analysis of tax records by the Bismarck Tobacco Free Coalition.

The analysis showed revenue growth prior to the city smoking ban and revenue continued to increase, even after the ban went into effect. Duane B. Pool, presented the analysis at the coalition's meeting Thursday.

Pool analyzed tax records from the first quarter of 2002 to the first quarter of 2006. The city smoking ban started in October 2006, which restricted smoking in restaurants and bars attached to restaurants. Free-standing bars, truck stops and hotels could still allow smoking under the ordinance.

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Stricter smoking ban may be on West Fargo ballot 

West Fargo city commissioners voted 3-1 Monday to put a stricter smoking ban question on the June ballot.

The question asks voters if smoking should be banned in bars, all parts of truck stops and all public places rented to private parties.

If passed, the ordinance would take effect after 8 a.m. July 1, “or the time an ordinance with the same restrictions on smoking goes into effect in the city of Fargo, North Dakota, whichever date is later.”

Fargo city officials also plan to put a stricter smoking ban on the June ballot.

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NDSU student leaders endorse smoking limits 

North Dakota State University student leaders have endorsed limits on campus smoking.

The policy approved by the student government Sunday night would prohibit smoking within 50 feet of doorways. The group rejected the policy two weeks ago, but senators brought it back for reconsideration.

It now goes to NDSU President Joseph Chapman.

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NDSU student senate won't endorse campus smoking policy 

North Dakota State University's student senate has not endorsed proposed smoking restrictions on campus and instead might put the issue to a vote of the entire student body.

The group voted 15-11 this week against a policy that would ban smoking within 50 feet of entrances, and plans to take up the issue again in two weeks.

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• Man pleads guilty in cigarette fire 

A Moorhead man pleaded guilty in Clay County District Court on Wednesday to a misdemeanor negligence charge in connection with a fire that damaged the apartment building where he lives.

As part of a plea agreement, Mitchell Lynn Case, 46, 429 4th St. S., was sentenced to 21 days in jail and ordered to pay $132 in fines and fees.

According to court documents, a fire in Case’s apartment Aug. 25 started from a cigarette that was not extinguished.

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Tobacco violations drop in past year 

The North Dakota Department of Human Services reported Friday that tobacco sales to minors decreased this past year. Violations fell to 5.8 percent in the annual random survey of tobacco retailers.

Department research analyst Elizabeth Cunningham said 56 more compliance checks were conducted than the previous year, and there were 16 violations statewide, two fewer than last year.

She said officials at the North Dakota Department of Human Services are pleased with the findings.

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Drop in tobacco sales to minors reported 

State officials are reporting a drop in tobacco sales to minors.

The state Human Services Department says violations fell to 5.8 percent in the annual random survey of tobacco retailers.

The survey was conducted this fall, department research analyst Elizabeth Cunningham said.

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State officials report drop in tobacco sales to minors 

State officials are reporting a drop in tobacco sales to minors.

The state Human Services Department says a random survey of tobacco retailers shows a 5.8 drop in violations over the past year.

Department research analyst Elizabeth Cunningham says 56 more compliance checks were conducted than in the previous year, and the number of violations totaled 16 statewide, two fewer than last year.

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8 Fargo businesses fail tobacco checks 

Eight Fargo businesses failed tobacco compliance checks conducted this week by local officials.

Fargo and West Fargo police departments and Fargo Cass Public Health checked all 74 businesses in the cities with tobacco licenses on Tuesday, according to a news release.

Eight of the 63 establish-ments checked in Fargo failed, while all 11 establish-ments checked in West Fargo passed, the release said.

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Tobacco Compliance Check 

Bismarck Police held a tobacco compliance check last night, and they say tobacco retailers in the city are doing better about not selling to minors.

Only seven out of 41 businesses that sell tobacco sold to the 15 and 16 year olds who went into the stores.

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